Preseason CHL rankings have four Ontario teams in top 10, including Oshawa Generals at #8

The preseason edition of the Canadian Hockey League Top 10 Rankings for 2024-25 have been released with OHL clubs taking four of the spots, including the Oshawa Generals at #8.

Sitting atop the list to begin the regular season is the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League, followed by the Brampton Steelheads and London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

The rankings were determined with input from NHL Central Scouting ahead of the start of the regular season, which officially begins this Friday. The Saginaw Spirit will raise their 2024 Memorial Cup Championship banner Friday, September 27 at home against Windsor. Oshawa opens its season the same day on the road in Kingston.

The Generals home opener is Sunday, September 29 vs Ottawa.

Set to feature as many as six NHL prospects along with 2023-24 CHL Rookie of the Year Gavin McKenna, Medicine Hat come into the season as the top-ranked team in the CHL and in search of a first Memorial Cup appearance since 2007.

At #2 is the Brampton Steelheads, who will celebrate their first year in Brampton after their move from neighbouring Mississauga. Having added some talent, in addition to their young stars benefiting from a year’s worth of experience, the Steelheads appear poised for a special season in their new home.

Defending OHL champion London Knights hold down the #3 spot in the early rankings, returning a significant portion of their roster that fell just one game short of lifting the Memorial Cup last June.

The ‘Q’ has the next three spots, with Moncton Wildcats at #4, Rimouski Oceanic at #5 and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at #6. Prince George Cougars of the western league sit at #7 in the pre-season rankings.

Fans in Oshawa have high hopes for the Generals this year, who will be bringing back much of the roster that carried the club to the OHL championship final after a slow start that saw them fighting for playoff positioning at Christmas.

A 12-game winning streak in the new year carried them into their first OHL final since 2015, a year the team won their fifth Memorial Cup.

On the backend, Oshawa should be anchored by defencemen and NHL prospects Luca Marelli (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Ben Danford (Toronto Maple Leafs), with 2023-24 OHL Goaltender of the Year Jacob Oster in the net. Oster led the OHL with 35 wins last season while setting a new club mark with 3,569 minutes played in a single season. Up front, Oshawa is expected to see the return of an elite forward group including Beckett Sennecke (Anaheim Ducks), whose return to Oshawa will be delayed until sometime in October as he recovers from a foot fracture sustained during his offseason training. Calum Ritchie (Colorado Avalanche) is another who could be a huge factor for the Generals this season, but the latter will depend on whether he cracks the Avalanche roster.

Winnipeg Jets 2023 first-rounder Colby Barlow is also rumoured to be heading to Oshawa in a trade once he is returned from Winnipeg, further bolstering the Generals attack.

A crop of 20-year-olds that could include the likes of forwards Luke Torrance, Dylan Roobroeck and/or Luca D’Amato should help make the 2024-25 Generals squad a force to be reckoned with in the OHL under new head coach Steve O’Rourke.

Brantford Bulldogs (OHL) at #9 and Kelowna Rockets (WHL) at #10 round out the rankings.

Oshawa Generals after winning the Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference champions last season